The closing assessment presents Tōgō as an officer who pursued an assigned objective with unusual determination. In this reading, attacking the Kowshing did more than stop one troop movement: it helped pressure the Beiyang Fleet to leave port and fight. Japanese intelligence understood that delay could let Chinese crews train, obtain better ammunition, and improve their wartime organization. Forcing action early therefore converted knowledge of an opponent's temporary unreadiness into an operational advantage.
Notable Point · 1:34:07-1:35:29
Why delay favored the Beiyang Fleet
The Kowshing incident may also have helped provoke the Beiyang Fleet before wartime training and better ammunition could repair its weaknesses.